RAVAGED HEARTS | CHAPTER FIVE
THE SCENE OF the kidnapping had remained relatively untouched. The few agents they'd send in here were all the skilled ones. There might be something left behind. Io stood in a row with the others, Constanza besides her. Celinos scowled. "This should have been done long ago."
"So why wasn't it?" Io asked with a snort. "Bloody hell, it's not that difficult to search a place for evidence."
Anita mumbled, "Didn't want to annoy anyone in any way, you know. Knew it would be something relatively big, all of you would be rushing here."
"And so you did nothing for two bloody weeks?" Io pressed, arms crossed. "These are innocent children's lives in danger. Not something you can just push off, for god's sake. What is wrong with you people?"
Constanza stayed quiet. Louis was the one who said, "Leave them be, Io, it's not their fault. They didn't have a say in this anymore than you did."
Io just shook her head in response. No point arguing with him of all people, she'd always known that. Someone, he knew the exact way to win. But it didn't mean she was just going to leave it at that.
Anita said, "Let's just go in and figure this out, yeah?"
Bailen himself had been removed from the area a while back. It was quite obviously unsafe, especially considering the fact his children were taken away from right under his nose. One of the few intelligent decisions she'd seen made so far.
They scattered around the room.
Constanza said, "They were playing with this last." She held up a doll. "Probably dropped it while being taken away."
Io walked over. "It's important to them. Look at all the stitches. They're both old enough to know what to treasure. They won't just throw it haphazardly like this." Constanza had been partially trained by Io. They thought the same way. Perhaps it wasn't the best way when they were working together solo on a mission, but with so many other people around, they wouldn't lack extra input on what they were doing right or wrong.
"Knowing what toy they were playing with before they were taken away doesn't help though... does it?" Anita's hesitance was clear. She found Io intimidating. She couldn't blame the younger woman, but it was slightly irritating. Being unreasonably feared, she'd learnt over the years, was almost just as annoying as being considered a shattered little thing.
Though it was amusing, how different people treated her so totally differently. It's not as if she truly acted differently among them. She was always the same old Io.
Louis, to her surprise, was the one who answered. "Every bit of information helps."
Io decided to refrain from comment, because she knew whatever came out of her mouth would not be nice and pleasant. The atmosphere was already awkward enough. Her further contribution was not necessary in the slightest. Constanza asked, "The note had already been taken away?"
Celinos nodded, combing his tousled mop of brown hair back from his eyes. "The only thing moved from the scene."
Constanza nodded. "Can we see it?"
"Later," he said. "It's not here."
"Well, this screams political motivation. Why they won't just kill Bailen though, I don't understand." Constanza shook her head in disgust. "Poor kids."
Io replied, "They want to make him seem like a coward. If he was just assassinated, Bailen would be martyred. Seen as a national hero. Might rouse the people in support of him and his cause. These people want to destabilize Vayante. My guess is on remaining fragments of Caba's government."
Louis hissed, "Caba is dead."
"His supporters live on."
"Unfortunate."
Io picked up a small glass figurine, inspecting it as she turned it around, noting the way the light bounced off prettily. "Ideas always live on. We'll be dealing with the remnants of Caba's regime for years to come. And even when we're dead, people will look at the history books and some will decide he made sense after all. I'm not surprised by this. I just despise the fact it's the children they decided to go after."
Constanza hissed. Her father had been one of those victims of Caba's ideologies. Melique had not been a pleasant place to live in.
Louis replied, voice calm and even-toned, "Then we'll deal with them one by one. It's an eternal game of cat-and-mouse." He was looking through the book shelf in the corner. "Can't tell if the books here are purely ornamental or if Bailen's children are wise beyond their years. These aren't books most ten and twelve year olds would read."
"Bailen self-describes himself a scholar first and politician second," Anita reminded. "He'd put special care in educating his children."
The room was unsurprisingly rather simply decorated. Nothing past bare essentials and what you'd expect, nothing lavish. It fit with Bailen's political agenda, his tight economical plan to save as much as possible for public infrastructure and rebuilding. Yi shen zuo ze. Leading by example. He seemed, so far, like a decent man, which was high praise coming from Io. Though she liked to think she was an excellent judge of character, considering the amount of rotten bastards she'd run into over the years.
Io said, "I'd hate him if I were his kids. Hell, I hated Irina when she made me read these and I was fourteen by then."
Anita shrugged. "All reports say they had a positive relationship. This isn't the kids running away from home, if that's what you're wondering. Doubt they'd be smart and shrewd enough to lead something like a ransom note behind if that was the case anyways."
"I would have come up with something like that when I was twelve."
"You were bloody diabolical," Louis replied, voice slightly curt, "still are, actually." Their eyes met across the room, and they both held eye contact and glared for a fraction of a second. He said, "The nanny is still in custody? No servant saw anything?"
Before anyone could respond, Io cut in, adding, "The mother."
"Mrs Bailen was supporting her husband and going on tour around the country. They didn't bring the kids. Think one of them gets easily sick while on the road or something." Celinos scratched his neck. "Nanny was released from custody a few days ago, but we can summon her back if necessary. And if any of the servants saw anything, we wouldn't still be stuck at this stage of the investigation."
Well, this Enrique Zevallos seemed to have a bit of a spine. The sister, Io was still reserving her judgement. So far, quite disappointing.
Io narrowed her eyes. "Poor security, then. There should be eyes on every corner of this damned house. It's not as if any of you didn't know how important Bailen was, considering the scale this investigation has gotten to."
"Bailen likes to spend less money." Celinos shrugged.
"Oh, he shouldn't have to pay for security. The government ought to have bloody funded it. Getting a candidate kidnapped or murdered halfway through the presidential race doesn't precisely make excellent press."
Constanza said, dryly, "We haven't exactly put good press on the top of our list, Io. We've been busy trying to make sure this little government of ours isn't immediately toppled before we've even started."
"You have Sai, Caershire and Arecia on your side."
"That is one of the worries," Louis said quietly.
The room fell quiet. The other four in the room would be familiar with this. But it hadn't exactly crossed the mind of Io. Ah, they don't want to be a puppet. Well, last she'd heard, Sai had no interest in taking over Vayante. No real point. They already had Gira as a vassal state, and more than enough Saian influence in Lohia. And no matter what, their influence and power would stay strong in Vayante. But with Melique's conquest still so fresh on their minds, she couldn't blame them for being wary.
"Fine," was what she said aloud. "Suffer on your own, then. Ignore the wisdom of our ancestors—teamwork is dreamwork, strength in numbers and all that crap. Rely on yourselves. I wish you the best. No reason for me to be here."
Constanza let out a sigh. "Io."
She waved her hand in the air. "Kidding."
They continued on as if that little interlude hadn't happened.
Io's fingers skimmed the window's hinges. She said, "These are bent, damaged. But they didn't come in here, or at least they didn't leave this way. There was no way no servant saw anything. Someone's lying. I'm sure of it."
"What do you propose, then?" Celinos added with biting politeness. "Interrogate every single one of them?"
Instead of answering the question directly, Io decided to go the long way around. "You know, I've always considered the Vayantean service a bit too nice. It doesn't hurt to be mean once in a while, to catch the nearest way even if it goes against your ridiculously strict moral code that could never help you get anywhere."
"Miss Mi—"
"Just give it some thought, Mr Enrique Zevallos. Tell your superiors, make sure you tell them I said it if you need to. I don't mind." She flashed a quick, curt smile. "You know it's the truth. But yes. You should have bloody interrogated the servants until someone confessed, because there is no way they managed this without anyone seeing. Bailen is stingy, yes, but not with his staff. And this is two children's lives at risk. I think the servants could stand a small scare or two."
There was silence in the chamber. She seemed to be causing a lot of that today. Maybe it was the nine months of pent-up frustration and anger slowly making its way out. Or maybe it was the whole lifetime of swallowing back words finally taking its toll.
Either way, this wasn't going to be pretty.
Louis was the one who interrupted the silence with a sigh. He was disappointed in her, she was slowly realising. Well, screw him. She didn't give a single shit. She was happier this way, really.
Letting people down had its special charm. She'd been at the receiving end of it for so many times it felt almost refreshing, invigorating, to be the one perpetrating it instead. Switching positions was always fun after a while.
But part of it also stung. Once she'd craved every lick of approval someone gave her, especially Louis'. And no matter what she liked to think, she knew deep inside that girl hadn't been completely washed away yet. She still remained, some remnants of that frail little wraith of a girl.
Constanza said, "Well, let's focus. We ought to interrogate the servants again, then? Start from the nanny, maybe. A while has passed, we could try to recall their memory."
Io said in reply, "Difficult. They'll have talked to each other. Overlapping memories, what we get back won't be completely accurate."
"We can make do," Louis said with conviction and certainty. "We'll eliminate and take what we can. The trail is colder than I'd like, but it is still possible. And the kidnappers haven't said anything yet."
"Someone familiar with the Vayantean government and how it operates," Io realised. "They know agents are just trekking in from around the world because of how scattered your operations are. Patience. Normal kidnappers wouldn't do that."
Celinos and Anita exchanged a look. Anita said, pensively, "We've already established that this is a political case..."
Celinos looked troubled. "It could be another candidate, but that just seems unlikely."
Io felt rather pleased with herself as she said, "Could be a mole, you know. Not the first time one of those has popped up. They're bloody everywhere. Like weeds, every time you remove one, two others pop up."
"Delightful insight," Louis said. The true meaning behind the words was clear. Shut the hell up. Io had absolutely no intention of doing so. She'd never grown out of being a nuisance. It was one of those things that was in her blood.
Her mother had been very good at irritating people as well. It was one of the very few things Io remembered about the woman. She had died when she was merely two, after all. Most of her childhood memories had been of her aunt and the streets of Asayama. Later on, it was Lady Kuroki and the school. And then, for a few years, it was dominated by Louis Sanchez. She had been so completely and utterly infatuated. Looking back now, it was nothing short of tragic.
Why do you keep relying on all the wrong people? Is your judgement just that shit, Io?
She shrugged and carried on. There wasn't much else to see in the room. If anything had been here in the first place, it was long gone. They were left with a practically useless crime scene and a house full of witnesses who saw nothing. They couldn't really be called witnesses, actually. Just people who happened to be within a fifty metre radius of the scene.
But at this point, she'd be lucky to even get a chance to talk with any of them. Celinos and Anita seemed to think all the servants were fragile as glass. They were servants, they'd seen far too much to be shocked by this. Io had played many servants before. She held a great deal of sympathy for them. Truly, the things they had to go through on a day to day basis...
Astonishing, what the rich and the privileged were willing to do under their servants' watchful eyes. They were grey, invisible, ignored. Swept underneath the stairs and hidden in their quarters. But the help knew everything.
It was one of her favourite roles. Ridiculously simple yet crazily effective. She recommended it to most agents. A maid had been Constanza's first ever long-term undercover role. It required little to no training, unlike aristocratic or much wealthier roles, and it was far more difficult to slip up.
Not that she hadn't seen people do that. She had. Many, many times. It was quite a tragedy.
When they left Bailen's townhouse, there wasn't a single corner left untouched. They looked through everything they could, ensuring they missed absolutely nothing. Io went out to check the gardens, though footprints would have definitely been washed away by now. If only a proper response had been managed sooner.
Constanza was complaining about it as the two walked through the city later that day, side by side. 'Two weeks, Io. Two weeks for a proper response. It would have taken less than an hour with your guys. The Vayantean Secret Service needs so much reformation and work."
Io said, "Give it some time. You can't build a palace within a day."
"It's been nine months since the war ended."
"A properly functional government takes a lot more than nine months to build up." Io tilted her head. Even almost two decades later, the Saian one was still really a work in progress. Or maybe it was because Ryan was practically in charge now, along with his princess. And both of them liked more experimental ideas. Revolutionaries. It had its advantages and its pitfalls.
"I'm not asking for it to be perfect," Constanza muttered. "Just... working at a pace that is faster than a snail's." The two of them had easily lapsed back into the easy camaraderie they used to share. There were awkward moments, questions Io decided to avoid, but it was okay. Acceptable. Constanza didn't pry too much.
"Well, we can't have everything in life."
"Those kids are in danger."
"Yes, I think that's why I travelled all the way from Gira to help rescue them. Because they are in danger."
"Sometimes, you're impossible to talk to."
Io raised a brow. "You just realised this? I'm disappointed. I taught you to be more perceptive than this."
Constanza shook her head. "We'll probably question most of the servants and the nanny tomorrow. You think we'll find anything?"
Slowly, Io shook her head. "Trail's gone cold. Two weeks isn't a very short amount of time. Human memory is untrustworthy in the first place, after this long? No, we'll need to wait for the kidnapper to get tired and renew their threat first. And then we can start hunting. But in the meanwhile, no use in sitting around and twiddling our thumbs."
"You want to start investigating on your own."
"I'd quite like to meet Jenaro Bailen," she said innocently. "I've read a lot about him, and it never hurts to make some more friends in powerful places."
Constanza smiled. "Understood. You think I can manage that. Why?"
She was testing Io, seeing how much she had kept tabs on in the past while. The answer was, quite a lot. Fayette and Adrian both had an abundance of sources and information, and sometimes she listened in. Occasionally, they told her directly.
"I heard you're quite close with the man's wife."
"I've worked with her once or twice."
"Heads to hers regularly for tea. And is a part of her inner circle."
"Aye, that I do. Does not mean, Io, that I'm friends with him."
"Bailen takes the advice of his wife quite seriously, or so I've heard."
"He does. His wife is half the brain behind his campaign, you know. Without her, he wouldn't be anywhere right now."
"Theirs is a marriage for us to admire, eh?" Io tilted her head. She wouldn't get something like that, of course, but it didn't mean she couldn't appreciate it from afar. Ever since she was small, she'd accepted the fact that she simply wouldn't get some of the things others had.
"Oh yes," Constanza agreed, nodding. "The sweetest couple. The most wondrous family. We need to unite them soon, as quickly as possible. Before the kids are too traumatised."
Now Io blinked, nonplussed. "They've been kidnapped for two weeks."
Constanza nodded. "Yeah. I know we should hurry up and all, but truly, there is no way to start with this until we at least interrogate the servants—"
Io raised her hand, cutting her friend off. "I think they're already traumatised enough, Constanza."
Constanza, wisely, chose to shut her mouth and not reply.